May 17, 2012 8:48pm EDTMay 17, 2012 5:53pm EDTTom Renney will not return as coach of the Edmonton Oilers.

Sean Gentille

Published on May. 17, 2012

May. 17, 2012

The Edmonton Oilers needed to make a decision on coach Tom Renney—and they did. The team on Thursday announced that Renney's contract will not be renewed.

His deal was set to expire on June 30, along with those of assistants coaches Ralph Krueger, Steve Smith, Kelly Buchberger and Fred Chabot.

Watch This

Renney, who also coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, went 57-85-22 in two seasons with the Oilers with a team made up mainly of young players, including All-Star Jordan Eberle and No. 1 picks Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini said in a video statement posted on the Edmonton Oilers' website that, "Tom's done some great things for our hockey club. But we felt at this time it was the right decision to make a change."

How much Renney was to blame for Edmonton's struggles (They've finished 30th in the league for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons and finished 29th in the league this season. The Oilers hold yet another No. 1 overall pick.) is debatable, especially considering the injuries the team dealt with throughout the season. The team's defensive and goaltending situations are deficient, and that's on Tambellini more than anyone else.

"We need to get to a different level of compete, a different level of competing for playoff spots," Tambellini said. "We've had some young people now who have been here through a couple of years. We've had some veterans who have underachieved for whatever reason and expectations will increase, as they should."

The decision came a few hours after a blog post by longtime Edmonton Journal writer Jim Matheson stating that it was time for Tambellini, who was in Finland with the Canadian world championship team until its elimination earlier in the day, to make his decision. Matheson's stance: Renney and his staff deserved to know whether they should pursue various openings across the league.